Defender
by bleeding-roses-16
Summary: Elena Cousland is just trying to survive long enough to get to Ostegar with her nephew and find her brothers before figuring out how to take down Arl Howe. She really didn't expect to be pulled into a rag tag team of misfits trying to stop the impending Civil war, the Blight, and just generally trying to keep the world from falling apart. non-warden fCousland, warden mCousland.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon age, you're touched in the head if you think i do.**

Chapter one:

Highever was as busy as ever, with new soldiers showing up from all around the Tyrany every day. The Teryn, Bryce Cousland was trying to raise an army to march down to Ostegar where Fereldens King, Cailen Theiren, currently was with Tyren Loghain Mac Tir's men, trying to quell the latest, and largest horde of Darkspawn that had cropped up. This meant that there were far more people in the castle than usual, and everyone was busy doing something.

The Highever library was a wonderful place, it had a wide selection of books on nearly every topic imaginable, and was often used for various lessons, or for men and women who were trying to research various topics. However, with the castle busily preparing the arrival of Amerenthienes army, everyone was running some sort of errand. This meant that the Library was blissfully quiet and unused, as well as a wonderful hiding spot for Elena Cousland.

Elena was the youngest child of Teryn and Teryna Bryce and Elenor Cousland, and was currently trying to stay out from everyone's feet. She had been told off too many times for distracting the soldiers- trying to get them to spar with her- or for her Mabari- Whisper- getting into the larder and wreaking havoc, and felt that she would be better off somewhere that she couldn't get into trouble.

"Elena Cousland, where HAVE you gotten to?" the exasperated voice of her mother floated through the shelves of books to where she was currently curled up with a book in her lap in the far corner.

'Well, so much for staying out of trouble.' She thought wearily before shutting her book and calling out.

"In the Library Mother" she made her way to the isle and peered around a bookshelf to see her mother peering into the room. When Elenor saw her daughter she huffed, looking more ruffled than usual, a clear sign something was wrong.

"There you are! We've been looking everywhere for you!" She said, beckoning Elena over. Elena sighed and walked over.

"Sorry Mother, I felt that I should try to stay out from underfoot. This seemed the best place to do so." She said. Elenor looked at her in surprised dismay.

"Oh love, we didn't mean to make you feel like a nuisance. We just needed you to leave the soldiers alone. And that Mabari of yours seems to be bent on driving Nan insane." She tried to assure Elena. Elena just smiled at her mother to show that she wasn't upset.

"I understand Mother. Why were you looking for me?" She asked curiously. Elenor pursed her lips, back to looking unhappy.

"Yes, the family is being called to your father's study. You'll hear the rest from him when we get there." She said, leading the way. Elena fell into step beside her, walking silently beside her.

"I'm pleased to see you wearing a dress and with your hair up dear. It's much more befitting of a lady of your station." Elenor said after a few moments. Elena wrinkled her nose and looked down to her dark green dress.

"Yes, well, like I said, I was trying to stay out of trouble, and wearing armor and my weapons would just be tempting me." Elena explained. Elenor smiled fondly and tugged lightly and one of her chocolaty colored curls that had escaped the intricate braided crown that Elena had let one of the servants put her hair into.

"You look lovely dear." Just then they reached Bryce's study door and they stopped to knock.

"Enter!" Came Bryce's voice from behind the door. The two entered and Elena was surprised to see, not only her father, two older brothers, Fergus and Aeden, and Fergus's wife, Orana, but also a tall, dark haired and heavily armored man.

"Ahh, good, you've found her." Bryce said to Elenor before turning to her. "Hello pup, you look lovely today." He said fondly. Elena smiled proudly back, she had always been a daddy's little girl and enjoyed any complements from him.

"Thank you, Father." She replied before her eyes wandered curiously back over to the man who was studying her, just as she was him.

"Pup, this is Ferelden's Warden-Commander, Duncan. Duncan, this is my youngest, Elena." Bryce said, clearly seeing the question in his daughter's eyes. Elena's face lit up in excitement.

"You're a Grey Warden?!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Now you've done it Father, she's never going to let the poor man leave now." Aeden spoke up, his face was serious, but his tone was playful. Elena shot a glare at him as the rest of the group laughed and said petulantly.

"I wouldn't keep him forever…. Maybe just a couple days, until he answers all my questions." Everyone laughed at that, including Duncan, who could clearly see the mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, My Lady, while I can answer some of your questions, I'm afraid I'm not here on a social call." Duncan apologized. To Elena's surprise, her parent's expressions sobered.

"Yes, that's why I called you all here." Bryce said. He turned to Aeden. "Duncan is here recruiting for the wardens and has expressed his interest in you Aeden." Aeden blinked in surprise, taken aback from the sudden news, before his gaze shot to Duncan.

"You want to recruit me?" He asked. Duncan nodded seriously.

"Yes, several of us saw your impressive win at the tournament in Denerim two months ago and started to consider you then. However, with this latest darkspawn threat, I hadn't been able to make it here until now." He explained.

"I've given my permission to take Aeden, however…" Bryce explained to the group before turning to Aeden. "In the end I'm leaving it up to you. You're old enough to make this decision for yourself."

"Please think about this carefully Aeden, this is a life commitment, and Wardens usually give up their family names." Elenor said frowning, obviously not wanting him to go.

"Come now mother, I think it's wonderful that my baby brother's being recruited." Fergus said, throwing an arm around Aeden and capturing him in a head lock. Aeden struggled for a moment before Elenor broke them up.

"Boys!" She said sternly, "That's no way to behave in front of a guest." Fergus let Aeden go and gave her a charming grin.

"Sorry mother. It's true though, Aeden has obviously been restless being cooped up here in the castle all day, and court life has never agreed with him." Fergus said. Elena saw Aeden throw him a surprised look.

"Don't be too surprised, brother dear. Your late night prowling's have happened more and more." She said. She knew that he was spending his nights with women and not really prowling the halls, but she didn't want her parents or Duncan to think badly of him, and she was pleased when Aeden gave her a grateful smile.

"I would like to be a Warden, Mother, then maybe I will have a purpose beyond looking for a wife and possibly being a Bann or Arl." Aeden said. Elenor sighed, obviously not up for arguing and put her hands up.

"Very well, if it's what you truly want."

"So it's decided then," Bryce clapped his hands together once and rubbed them together. "In that case, I have a few things to give you before you go pack your things." He walked over to the weapons wrack that he kept in the corner of the study and grabbed a large broadsword that looked almost like it crackled with electricity, and handed it over to Aeden, who took it, looking surprised.

"Your mother and I commissioned this after you won the tournament, but didn't get it until recently. It has two Master rune stones in it, a lightning rune and a Silverite rune. We also wanted to give you this amulet." Bryce added, opening one of his desk drawers and pulling out an amulet that had the Cousland family crest on it. "The amulet also has Master Immunity and Hale rune stones in it."

"Thank you. How did you know to put the Silverite rune in the sword?" Aeden asked. Bryce smiled while Elenor just huffed.

"Duncan might have come and informed us of his intention to recruit you while we were all still in Denerim." Aeden blinked and rose an eyebrow at Duncan who just shrugged.

"Your parents asked for some time to think it over, another reason for the wait to recruit you." He said, shifting his weight and crossing his arms and adding, "I don't mean to rush, but it's important for me to be at Ostegar and I have somewhere I need to be before that. If we could leave before tonight, I would appreciate it." Aeden nodded.

"Then I'll go grab my things, it won't take me long."

"I'll be waiting in the Great Hall then." Duncan said as he nodded and strode for the door, before he left he turned and added ". "If I might be so bold, your daughter would also make an excellent Warden." He said to Bryce. Immediately everyone but Elena started to protest the notion.

"Be that as it may, Elena has only seen 17 summers and I would not wish to see all my children in war just yet." Bryce said, raising his voice slightly to be heard over everyone else. "Unless you wish to invoke the right of conscription?" He asked, his tone low and dangerous. Duncan shook his head and put his hands up in a calming gesture.

"While we need all the Wardens we can get, we're not so desperate as to recruit one so young."

"Oh… so close." She pouted, to everyone's amusement. She looked up with puppy eyes at Duncan. "Maybe you can come back in a few years and try again?" She asked. Duncan looked at her in amusement.

"Possibly. Somehow I don't think your father's answer will change." He said, looking over to see Bryce nodding emphatically.

"Sorry Pup. You're stuck with us." He said. Elena shrugged and smiled back, showing that she wasn't upset with anyone.

"Good bye then, Duncan, it was a pleasure to meet you." Elena said. Duncan bowed his head to her.

"You as well, My Lady." He said quick goodbyes to everyone else and left the room.

"I better pack then." Aeden said, also making his way to the door.

"Congratulations Aeden, and please don't forget to say goodbye to Oren, he'll be awfully upset if you don't." Orana said. Aeden nodded, and then left. Elena also started to inch her way to the door when Bryce stopped her again.

"Hold on pup," Elena looked over to him curiously and came over to his desk again when he signaled her to sit down in front of it. "One last thing. Next week, Arl Howe will be arriving with his troops from Amerenthine and Fergus and I will be leaving to Ostegar. Your mother and I have made the decision to leave Highever in your care, Elena, so your mother will be leaving to stay with Lady Landra while we're gone." He said. Elena's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"You're leaving me in charge? What about Orana?" She asked, looking over to the older woman.

"I'll still be here to offer you any help you need." Orana said reassuringly to her. Bryce nodded.

"That's right, Orana knows how to run the castle and has had practice before, think of this as a test of what you have learned already and putting it into practice." Bryce explained. Elena bit her lip, looking doubtfully at her parents.

"You truly think I'll be fine? What if something were to happen?" She asked them. Her parents both smiled at her.

"Don't worry dear, we have the utmost faith that you'll do fine." Elenor said, walking over to give her a hug. "But if you like, we can go over what your duties will be when we're all gone." She offered. Elena nodded gratefully.

"I think I'd like that." She accepted.

"Then let's go dear, let's go over what you need." Elenor said, grabbing Elena's arm and gently leading her out the door. Elena sighed, 'somehow I feel I'm going to regret this by the end of the week.' She thought as she allowed herself to be pulled away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: still don't own.**

Chapter 2

For the next week, Elena found herself going from being bored, to frantically trying to memorize all of her duties she would be required to perform, from holding court hearings to managing finances, and she was more than a little nervous. Finally, the day that Arl Howe and his army were to arrive, Elena found that she had so much pent up nervous energy that she found herself in the training yard with her dual swords, hacking away at the training dummies. After a few more minutes of killing the poor dummy, she heard someone clear their throat pointedly and spun around in surprise. She blinked in surprise when she saw Sir Rory Gilmore standing there watching her.

"Hello Sir Gilmore. How may I help you?" She asked, silently sheathing her weapons. The red haired man nodded back his greeting before saying,

"Your father is awaiting your presence in the Great hall."

Elena took a deep breath and nodded, smiling at him. "Thank you for telling me Sir Gilmore. I'll be on my way now."

"Er, don't you want to change out of your armor, My lady?" Sir Gilmore asked, eyeing her armor and weapons. Elena paused, also looking down at her outfit before shrugging.

"I don't have time. I can always change later." She said, striding out of the practice yard and towards the Great Hall, managing to avoid running into everyone and glided into the hall. She paused when she noticed that Arl Howe was standing next to her father, she had never really liked the Arl, he reminded her to much of a bird of prey, waiting for the right moment to swoop in for the kill. She sighed and put on a smile, quickly coming to her father's side.

"Father." She greeted before turning to Arl how and giving a miniscule curtsy, "Arl Howe, a pleasure to see you again."

"You've turned into a fine young lady. It's a pleasure to see you again" Arl Howe said as he nodded back and gave her a greasy smile that made her stomach churn.

"Thank you Arl Howe, tell me, how does your family fair?" She asked, mainly thinking of Delilah who was a pleasantly shy girl, and Nathanial, who was always willing to get into mischief with her.

"They're well, thank you. Perhaps next time I'll bring Tomas with me. He's been asking after you." Howe said before adding "Mayhap there could be a wedding in the near future between our families?" He said.

"Isn't Tomas almost ten years my senior?" Elena asked, trying not to show just how much she disliked the middle Howe child. Howe turned a condescending eye on her.

"Ahh, as one ages, the years between start to matter much less." He said.

"Yes, well, I'm not quite ready to see my little girl married off quite yet." Bryce finally said, settling the matter.

Howe looked irritated, but turned back to her father "I'm sorry to say that my men are delayed, I'm sorry for the inconvenience." He simpered, looking sorry, but the gleam in his eyes put Elena on edge.

"No, no, this Darkspawn threat has us all scrambling." Bryce said, obviously not questioning why some of the men made it on time but not the rest. Elena shifted from foot to foot impatiently, eager to be able to leave, but her father gestured to her and said,

"Elena will be in charge of running the castle in place of my son Fergus and I, while we're off fighting."

Elena smiled proudly, this would be her first time attempting to run the castle, but it was dampened some by Howe's pleasantly surprised look.

"Well, that is a big responsibility, but why not have Aeden in charge?" he asked. Bryce nodded at him,

"That was the original plan, however, Aeden was recently recruited into the Grey Wardens and left for Ostegar last week." Bryce explained.

Howe nodded, if possible, looking even more pleased. "What an honor."

Elena finally had enough of the small talk and politely asked, "Is there anything else you need father?" Bryce shook his head and smiled fondly at her.

"Not at the moment pup. You should go and say goodbye to your brother though." Elena nodded her agreement and bid her goodbyes, and strode out of the Great Hall.

To her surprise, Sir Gilmore was standing just outside the door and perked up when he saw her.

"Lady Elena." He said, giving a small respectful bow to her before looking at her seriously. "Cook says to get down to the kitchen, your hound is wreaking havoc in the panty again."

Elena closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "I simply don't know what has gotten into him! He's been nothing but trouble all week."

"Well, we best go save the kitchen again." They took off for the kitchen, side by side.

"Will you be joining the army down in Ostegar?" Elena asked curiously, she knew that Sir Gilmore was one of her fathers most trusted and talented knights and couldn't see him being left behind. He shook his head.

"No, I'll be staying here with a small group of men to help defend the castle should it be needed." He explained. Elena cocked her head curiously.

"Does he think it'll be needed? Do you?" She asked

"No, it's mostly just for worst case scenarios. In case this darkspawn raid turns out to be worse than everyone thinks. Not that it would help a lot, but even a small group can be a blessing." Elena nodded her understanding.

"Well, I have to admit that I'm glad you'll be staying here. I'm more than a little nervous about being left in charge, and having a friendly face I can trust will be nice."

Sir Gilmore smiled fondly at her. "I'm pleased to be of help."

Just then, they arrived at the kitchen, where Elena could hear the Cook, Nan, screaming bloody murder. Elena sighed and looked at Sir Gilmore who was suppressing a wince. No one liked being on the receiving end of Nan's lectures. Elena took a deep breath and strode into the kitchen.

"Elena Cousland! Your blasted hound is in the Larder again!" Came the furious yell of Nan. Elena sighed,

"I know Nan, I'll get him out." She turned to Sir Gilmore and gestured with her head to follow her.

"Well, let's see what's going on." She muttered. They walked into the pantry to see Whisper barking away at one of the walls.

"Whisper! What are you doing boy?" He spun and barked at her before turning back to the wall and growling. Elena and Rory looked at each other before looking back at the dog.

"What is it boy? Something there?" No sooner had she said it than a group of giant rats came out. Elena and Rory jumped in surprise before they each grabbed their weapons and quickly killed them.

"It's like the start of every adventure story my granddad use to tell me, Giant rats." Rory said, shaking his head.

Elena scrunched her nose up in disgust.

"Ugg, well, Nan will be pleased we killed them at least." She turned to Whisper and scratched behind his ear. "Are the rats what has had you in a tizzy all week? Will you calm down now?"

Whisper barked happily and spun in a circle before leading the two out of the Larder.

"There you are, just brazen as you please! I bet you've been into the meat again haven't you?" Nan scolded Whisper who backed away, whimpering.

"Actually, he was trying to defend the larder from giant rats." Elena stated as she came to stand next to Whisper, laying a comforting hand on his head.

"Rats?! Not those giant grey ones? They'll eat you, they will!" Cried one of the male elven servants that Elena didn't recognize.

Nan grunted in displeasure. "Now you've gone and scared the servants. I trust you took care of it? Or do I have to worry about that as well? It's hard enough feeding the castle without having to worry about rodents of all kinds."

Elena nodded, trying not to laugh at her grumpy ex-nanny. "Yes we did. You might want one of the servants to clean up the mess, but the rats shouldn't be a problem anymore." Nan sniffed and went back to work, barking orders and ignoring Elena, Sir Gilmore and Whisper.

"Well, I have things to get done before the army leaves, have a pleasant day Lady Elena." Sir Gilmore bowed to her before leaving. Elena looked down to Whisper.

"We should probably go find Fergus and tell him good bye. Come on boy." Whisper barked happily and ran ahead of her. Elena just shook her head and followed casually behind. She had almost made it to the family's wing when she spotted her mother, Lady Landra, Landra's son Darrien and a handmaid. She faltered and almost turned around, she didn't need Lady Landra trying to convince her to marry her son again, but she straightened up and told herself to suck it up and not run away.

"Hello mother." She said pleasantly, nodding to the group as she walked up to them. Elenor smiled affectionately at her.

"Hello dear, have you talked to your father?" she asked. Elena nodded, not surprised to see that she seemed to know what had happened.

"Yes, I have just left the Great Hall not too long ago." her mother frowned.

"I hope you went to the kitchen to get that blasted dog of yours. I don't understand why you named that dog Whisper, she's anything but quiet." Her mother gripped. Elena tried not to roll her eyes, Elenor often had long rants about her Mabari, the family had found it easier to cut her off before she started, else she talk their ears off.

"I have. It shouldn't be a problem again." She consoled. Elenor pursed her lips but nodded.

"Good. I suppose you remember Lady Landra?" She questioned. Elena nodded, turning her attention to the other woman.

"I do, it's a pleasure to see you again." She acknowledged politely. Landra laughed lightly.

"You're to kind my dear. Last I saw you was at the summer's day festival and didn't I spend the entire time trying to convince you to marry my son?" She asked, nodding towards Darrien.

Darrien smiled tightly at his mother, "and making a rather poor case of it, I might add."

Elena snorted, to amused to care that it was impolite. Darrien turned to her and gave her a polite nod.

"Well, I think Iona and I will retire to the Library for now. Mother, Lady Elenor, Lady Elena." He said before quickly leading the handmaiden away. Lady Landra heaved a great put upon sigh before turning to Elena's mother again.

"I think I shall retire to my room. I would like to be well rested before we set out again tomorrow. Good day to you both." She gave a small curtsy before also departing.

"Have you seen Fergus?" Elena enquired once she and her mother were alone again.

Elenor thought about it for a moment before suggesting, "If he's not with his men, then he will most likely be in his room with Oriana and Oren."

Elena nodded "Okay, Father wanted me to inform him that the Arl's men are delayed and that Fergus and the men will leave tonight."

Her mother frowned, looking down the hall towards the Great Hall.

"I see, well then you had better go see your brother, hopefully we'll all get to say our goodbyes together." Elenor declared, softly kissing the top of Elena's head, before walking towards the Great Hall.

Elena watched her leave before walking to her brother's rooms.

"Is there really gunna be a war papa? Will you bring me back a sward?" She smiled at Oren's innocent question.

"That's sword, Oren." Fergus corrected, bending down to his level, "and I promise to bring you back the mightiest Sword I can. I'll be back before you know it."

Oriana sighed, "I wish Victory was indeed so certain. My heart is…disquiet."

Elena nodded her agreement, though no one was looking at her. She also felt uneasy.

"Don't frighten the boy, love. I speak the truth!" Fergus said, grinning at his son. He then turned to see Elena standing there, smiling at them. "And here's my baby sister, come to see me off. Dry you're eyes love and wish me well" Fergus teased the two, standing back up.

Elena rolled her eyes and dryly asked, "Should I wait outside for you? Or is it safe."

"Stay, I would like to say farewell." Fergus said.

"I'm only teasing, brother dear. Of course I'm staying to say farewell." Elena just laughed before sobering, "I wish I could go with you." She said.

"I wish you could too, it'll be tiring killing all those darkspawn alone." Fergus joked. Elena laughed,

"But you won't be alone, dear brother, you'll have the whole army next to you! And don't forget, Aeden will also be at Ostegar by now and will also be fighting with you all."

Fergus smiled mischievously, "No doubt between the two of us, we'll send those darkspawn running in fear." Elena and Oriana both looked at him doubtfully.

"You sound so certain that this war will be over soon." Elena stated. Fergus nodded, looking between her and Oriana calmly.

"Word from the south is that the battles have been going well. There's been no evidence that this is a true blight, just a very large raid." He explained.

"Could that be true?" Oriana asked hopefully.

"Well, I'll find out soon enough. Pray for me my love, and with luck I'll be back within the month." Fergus shrugged.

That reminded Elena what she had been asked to tell him and she perked up, "Oh, Father wanted me to tell you that you are to leave with the men tonight and he will follow tomorrow when the Arl's men arrive."

Fergus scowled, "So it's true? The Arl's men are delayed, you'd think they were all walking backwards." He sighed and ruffled Oren's hair affectionately, "Well, I better get underway, so many darkspawn to behead, so little time." Then he turned and gave Oriana a kiss on her cheek. "Off we go then, I'll see you soon my love."

"I do hope you were planning to wait for us before taking your leave." The four of them turned to see Bryce and Elenor striding into the room.

While her mother said her goodbyes, Elenor turned irritably to her father,

"You could have given him the message yourself father."

"And miss having my remaining children in one spot at the same time? Perish the thought pup." Bryce teased. The two of them tuned into the other conversation just in time for Fergus to ask Elena,

"You'll watch out for mother, wont you Elena?"

Elena's eyebrow's raised. "Sure, but you know mother can take care of herself."

"True, they should sick her on the darkspawn, she'll lecture them all back to the deep roads." Fergus laughed kissing their mother on the cheek as she huffed.

"Auntie, Papa say's your supposed to be looking after us while he's gone. Is this true?" Oren asked, tugging on Elena's wrist. Elena smiled and bent down to his level.

"Of course it is Oren. We'll have lots of fun here, just you wait." She said. Oren's eyes lit up.

"Will you teach me to use a sword Auntie? Then I can fight evil too!" He begged. Elena laughed and nodded,

"Of course Oren."

Oren whooped and pretended to wield a sword. "Back, get back you darkspawn. Fear my sword of truthiness." He cried out. Elena looked up at Oriana and Fergus, the question clear on her face.

"We've been teaching him about honesty." Oriana explained with a laugh. Elena nodded her understanding and turned back to Oren

"Just you watch, we'll get you all trained up then you can go save your father from the darkspawn." She said, laughing at Fergus who looked insulted at the insinuation that he would need to be saved.

"Children, please." Elenor pleaded, clearly exasperated that her adult children were still acting like small children.

"No matter. I better be on my way." Fergus said, grabbing his pack that was lying next to the bookshelf, giving hugs and kisses all around before striding out the door.

"We should probably all head to bed, you especially pup, you have a big day tomorrow." Bryce said, planting a kiss on her head before leaving to do whatever he was doing. Elenor also gave a hug to Elena before turning to talk to Oriana some more.

"Well, I can clearly see when I'm not wanted." Elena muttered sarcastically before heading to her own room to get ready for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: don't own**

Chapter 3

Elena woke up when she heard someone softly calling,

"Auntie, Auntie, wake up." She blinked and waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark, only to see Oren.

"What's wrong Oren?" She asked, sitting up and pulling Oren onto the bed next to her.

"I had bad dreams about papa." He sniffed. Elena hugged him close.

"Nothing bad will happen to your papa, I promise. Why didn't you go to your mama?" She asked. Oren scrubbed his nose and pouted,

"I'm trying to be a big boy, and mama say's big boys don't sleep with their parents. But you won't tell mama I came to you, will you?" he asked.

Elena smiled, "of course sweetheart." She was about to offer him to crawl into bed with her when she realized he was still fully clothed. "Why do you still have you're cloths on?" she asked. Oren looked at her sheepishly

"I was cold in my nightwear."

Elena just shook her head and tucked him into her bed before laying back down again.

"Well, you should be nice and warm with me." She mumbled and started to drift back to sleep, only for her and Oren to jump up in surprise when Whisper started barking viciously at the door. Elena frowned, reminded of the incident from the rats and grabbed her sword and turned to Oren,

"Oren, I want you to hide on the floor next to the bed until I tell you to come out. And don't make a sound." She warned. Oren nodded, his eye's wide and fearful as he slipped out of the bed and crouched out of sight.

Elena crept over to the door, crouching down before she swung it open. Immediately an arrow flew where her head should have been had she been standing.

"Fetch Whisper!" Whisper shot out of the room, snarling as he bowled the archer over, tearing into him. Elena also raced out the room, her twin daggers twirling, spinning, and flying through the other men in the room.

When the four men laid dead she raced over to her mothers room.

"Mother! Are you alright?" She called. The door opened to show Elenor in full armor.

"Elena, what's going on? Are you alright dear? Who's attacking?" She asked frantically, looking at the men Elena had taken down. "These are Howe's men, why are they attacking?"

Elena scowled, "He's betrayed us. His army was obviously delayed on purpose." She said, running back to her room.

"You can come out now Oren." She called as she quickly started to put on her own armor.

"What's happening Auntie?" He asked as he slowly crawled out from under the bed where he must have crawled when the fighting started.

"We're under attack, you need to come with me." She said, leading him out into the main room.

"Oren! Oh thank the Maker you're safe." Elenor cried, hugging him. Elena gasped as she saw Oriana's bedroom door open.

"Keep him there mother!" she called as she ran to check on her sister in law. She came to a halt when she saw Oriana with her throat slit. Elena whimpered and went back to her Mother and nephew. Elenor took one look at her face before stifling a cry.

"No! Poor Fergus." She cried. Elena just shook her head.

"We need to find Father and get out of here. I would go looking through the castle, but with Oren with us and the castle under attack, I would suggest just waiting for him at the servants exit in the larder."

"What about mama?" Oren asked, looking towards their rooms.

"I'm sorry Oren, but your mama had gone to stay with the Maker." Elena explained awkwardly. Oren frowned but didn't say anything as Elena started to lead the trio slowly out of the family wing and to the Servants larder.

The group could hear screaming and fighting all through the castle.

"I can't believe it, they've taken the castle." Elenor stated before turning to Elena. "They can't get our family sword. It should be used to cut that treacherous Howe's head off." She held out a key for Elena to take. "I'll take Oren to the Servants exit, would you go and get the sword and family amulet out of the treasury."

Elena nodded and gave them both kisses on the cheek before sprinting quietly to the treasury. She used all her stealth skills to sneak as quietly as she could, killing any of Howe's men she came across.

Just as she turned into the hallway that was perpendicular to the one leading to the treasury, she ran into Sir Gilmore who was hurrying the opposite way.

"Woah!" They both cried, just barely dodging each other.

"Elena!"

"Rory!" They both cried, forgetting titles in their hurry.

"I'm glad to see you're alright, Howe's men are everywhere! We're trying to keep the bulk of them out, but we're fighting a losing battle." Sir Gilmore rushed out. "I was just on my way to find you and your family and warn you."

Elena shook her head, "You're too late, and they already reached the family wing. I took care of them, and everyone from there to here. Mother and Oren went to the servants exit to hopefully find Father, Oriana was killed, and I'm heading to the treasury to grab a few things so Howe doesn't get his slimy hands on them." Sir Gilmore nodded as the two took off for the treasury again.

"I'll come with you as an extra sword hand. I'll see you to the exit, but then I'm going to come back and kill as many of Howe's men as I can."

Elena nodded her understanding, admiration for his bravery and loyalty blooming in her chest. "You're a good man, Rory. And if this is the last night we see each other, I'm glad I got to know you." She said seriously. Sir Gilmore was unable to answer because there were five men standing around the treasury door, standing over the treasury guard's bodies.

Elena and Sir Gilmore immediately jumped into the fray, easily fighting around each other, defending the others back in a way only people who had a lot of experience and practice could achieve, quickly cutting down their opponents. Elena quickly opened the door to the treasury and went to the family's chest and used her mother's key to open it. She grabbed the family sword, shield, amulet and a large pouch of gold, before standing and turning to her friend.

"Will you not come with me?" she asked, desperately wishing he would. He had been her closest companion growing up, despite being several years older, and she didn't want him to die here. Sir Gilmore shook his head solemnly.

"No, I pledged my services to you're family when I became a knight. I will go down defending your family and this castle." Elena sniffed and tried to blink back her tears and failed. She threw her arms around him in a tight hug as she cried.

"Oh I'll miss you. Please, please, please try and make it out alive." Sir Gilmore hugged her back just as tightly.

"I'll miss you to. Be safe and get out alive, I won't say goodbye, just see you later." He told her. Elena nodded and stepped back, wiping her eyes.

"I'll see you later." She said back before running back to the Larder room, not looking back.

When she did get to the Larder, it was only to see Bryce laying in a puddle of his own blood, speaking softly to a sobbing Oren and a distressed Eleanor. Whisper was standing vigil just inside the door, protecting the three.

"Father!" She cried in dismay, running and falling to her knees at his side. She assumed he was trying to smile at her because he made a sort of pained grimace smile.

"There you are pup. I'm glad you're okay." Elena choked out another sob at his greeting, the tears running freely once more down her face. "i-I don't think I'll survive standing pup." He groaned.

"You'll be okay, I'll get us out of here." Elena promised, praying he would be okay, but knowing that he wouldn't.

"No. Pup, Elena, you must get your Mother and Oren out, get them somewhere safe. Go to Ostegar and tell-tell your brothers what happened." He ordered. Elena nodded her agreement, but her mother protested.

"No Bryce, I won't leave you. Elena and Oren will go, I'll stay here and take out anyone who comes through that door." She swore.

"But Mother…" Elena trailed off at the fierce look her mother gave her.

"No Elena! I will stay, but you and Oren need to live. Please, protect Oren, find your brothers, and get revenge on Howe!"

Elena looked at her mother before nodding slowly and turning to Oren who looked frightened, confused, tired, and a whole number of emotions she couldn't name at the moment.

"Okay Oren. You heard Grandmama and Grandpapa, you're going to come with Auntie and we're going to go find you're Papa and Uncle Aedan alright?" She said as calmly as she could. Oren nodded and scrambled over to take her hand.

"I love you both." She said, turning one last time to her parents.

"Love you." Oren cried, hugging and kissing them both.

"And we love you. Now go!" Bryce ordered.

Elena picked up Oren and carefully maneuvered herself through the servants exit as quietly as she could, motioning for Whisper to follow.

"I need you to be as quiet as you can until I tell you okay Oren?" Elena asked softly. Oren nodded frantically, his eyes wide. "Good boy. Now hop onto my back. I'm going to run as long as I can." She explained, adjusting her weapons so that they wouldn't get in the way. She turned to Whisper,

"Lead the way Whisper, quickly and quietly." Whisper spun around and sprinted off, leading them out of the exits and into the open area around the castle.

Whisper and Elena both ran as fast as they could while trying to make it hard to see them until they could get into the forest, where they then just tried to get as far as they could.

In the end, Elena was only able to run with Oren on her back for several leagues before she had to stop. Oren had somehow managed to fall asleep on her back some time ago, the trauma and excitement being too much for him.

"Halt, Whisper." She puffed, coming to a stop far enough from the road that she was hidden, but close enough that she and Whisper would be able to tell if someone came by.

"Oren, hey Oren." She jostled Oren till he woke up.

"Did we find Papa?" he asked tiredly.

"No, not yet sweetie. I need to rest for a while though." She explained. She wished she had a water canister with her, she was so thirsty, but she knew that the closest stream was still a ways away.

She sat down against a tree, sighing in exhaustion. All she wanted to do was curl up and cry, scream, sleep, something. But she knew she needed to keep calm and stay awake, if only for her nephew.

"Are you okay Auntie?" Oren asked timidly. Elena tried to smile at him to reassure him, but she wasn't sure if she managed.

"I will be." She soothed, opening her arms to him. Oren didn't even hesitated to curl up with her.

"I want Mama." He whimpered. Elena hushed him, smoothing back his hair.

"I know sweetie, I do too. But your Mama and Grandpapa and Grandmama are all with the maker now. I'm sure they're watching us, and protecting us from where they are." She said. Oren nodded slowly, clearly ready to go back to sleep. "Sleep now Oren, Whisper and I will protect you." She said, watching as his eyes closed again. She turned to look at Whisper who was sprawled out on the ground, also clearly tired.

"Sleep Whisper, I trust you'll let me know when someone is coming." She said softly. Whisper just sniffed and fell asleep. Elena gave up trying to stay awake after that and also fell asleep.

She didn't wake up until some time later when she felt Whisper nudging her awake. She yawned and looked around blearily.

"Wha-? Is someone coming?" She asked. Whisper gave a quite bark and turned towards the road. Elena once again shook Oren awake.

"Wake up Oren, someone is coming." Hearing that, Oren shot awake and looked at her in fear.

"Is it the bad men?" he asked.

"I don't know. Be quiet and stay here until I call for you. Whisper will stay with you okay?" Elena instructed. Oren nodded and stood next to Whisper.

Elena took a deep breath before walking out to the road and nearly sighed in relief when she saw that it looked like two dwarven merchants riding in their wagon.

"Ho there!" She called, waving them down.

"Hello miss, can we help you?" asked the older dwarf. He looked kind, with light blue eyes and smile wrinkles starting to form, showing her that he liked to laugh. His son next to him looked happy, if not a little dim.

"Yes please. My nephew and I ran into some trouble and need to get to Ostegar, or Lothering. If you're headed that way, I would pay you for a ride down." She said.

The dwarf studied her for a moment, taking in her ragged and bloodied armor and nodded slowly, looking around for her nephew. She turned and called out.

"Oren, Whisper, you can come out now." the dwarf tensed for a moment, before relaxing when he saw Oren and Whisper step into sight.

"Well now, I think we can do that. We're headed past Lothering anyways and we'd be happy to have you." The dwarf said, waving them all over. "I think introductions are needed, I am Bodhan Feddic and this is mi boy Sandal. Say hello to the pretty lady Sandal."

"Hello." Sandal said, happily waving. Elena smiled at them and put a comforting hand on Oren's shoulder.

"I am Elena, that's my Mabari Whisper, and this is my nephew Oren." She introduced she looked down to see Oren staring at them wide mouthed.

"Are you a dwarf?" he asked in awe.

"Oren!" She scolded, but Bodhan just laughed.

"That I am mi boy that I am." He hopped down off the carriage and led them to the back. "Now, I don't have a lot of room, but this should do for now. Is there anything you need?" He asked.

Elena bit her lip but finally gave in and answered, "Water would be nice, and maybe something to eat too."

Bodhan smiled and after a bit of rummaging, pulled out a bag of apples and two water skins.

"Here you go. This should last you until dinner." He said.

Elena beamed at him, "thank you so much. You really don't know how much this means to me and I'll pay you when we get to Lothering."

Bodhan just waved her off. "Don't worry about it. I have a good feeling about you and I always trust my feelings."

Elena smiled as she took a drink of the water and gave Oren and Whisper an apple to munch on. She also had a feeling that Bodhan and his son would turn into very good friends.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately i still don't own this game**

 **A/N: please review!**

Chapter 4

The five did actually become very close in the following days. Everyone but Bodhan and Whisper would take turns sitting in the front of the carriage during the days, telling each other stories, singing songs and just getting to know each other. At night, after they set up camp, Elena would go hunting for some hares, quill or a deer to cook for dinner and then Bodhan would teach her some tricks to make the stew taste better. Elena tried to use everything she could when she caught some of the bigger animals, skinning them carefully before tanning them, making them into useable leather.

She also had acquired a nice practice sword and started to teach Oren some basic stances. She wasn't really a warrior and so her stances were different, but she knew enough to get him started. Oren was simply tickled to start learning and it helped brighten his mood, something Elena was thankful for. Sandal also helped Oren a lot, they had become fast friends, even though Sandal didn't say much, Oren liked him very much.

The pace was easy, but Elena wasn't exactly in a hurry to tell her brothers what happened.

When they did get to Lothering, Elena was surprised to see it was brimming with people, so many that dozens were camped out in the open.

"Oren, why don't you stay with Bodhan and Sandal for the moment alright?" She suggeted. Oren smiled and nodded.

"Okay Auntie. Will you be back soon?" He asked. Elena smiled and kissed his head.

"Of course I'll be back soon. I'm just going to find out what's going on." She said, looking up to Bodhan to see if he minded. He just smiled and gestured to the chantry they saw.

"Feel free, I'm going to try and sell some of my wares. Oren is certainly welcome to stay with us." He replied. Elena thanked him, told Whisper to stay with Oren, and sped off.

"Excuse me, Sister!" She called out to a red-headed chantry sister who was out posting something up on the Chantry Board. She spun around and smiled at her.

"Hello, how may I help you today?" She inquired, Elena noted that she spoke with a light Orlesian accent. Elena gestured around them,

"What is going on? Why are there so many people here?" She asked. The sister looked troubled as she gazed at all the people,

"They are fugitives, they've been run out of their homes by the darkspawn and some are who's left over from the Kings army and were able to escape the battlefield alive." She explained before looking at Elena curiously. "Haven't you heard the news?."

Elena shook her head slowly, a cold dread pooling in the pit of her stomach. "I'm afraid not. What do you mean?"

"The King and the Grey Wardens are dead and many of the Kings army were killed in the last battle at Ostegar, many are saying the Grey Wardens are at fault, but I don't think this is true. Tyren Loghain swept through several days ago with his army, taking the Bann's men with him. The only people we have left to defend ourselves are the Templars." She explained.

Elena paled, thinking of her brothers and of the many men and woman in Highevers army that would have perished.

"Have you heard of any surviving Grey Wardens? Or of Tyren Cousland's men?" She asked desperately hoping for some good news.

The sister frowned, her brown eyes looked troubled. "I haven't heard of anyone in particular, though there have been a few of Tyren Loghain's men who have been asking if anyone has seen any Grey Wardens recently. If you would like, I will go with you to the tavern they have been at." She offered, gesturing to a building across the river that ran through the town. Elena pursed her lips as she thought about it.

"I….would like that." She breathed out. "I am Elena, by the way. Thank you for helping me." She crossed her arms and gave a quick bow, if only to keep her from curtsying like she usually did.

The sister beamed at her. "I am Liliana, it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance!"

The two started off towards the tavern, "Are you looking for family? A lover perhaps?" She asked the last part with a mischievous side glance.

Elena blinked before scrunching up her nose. "Uh family, my two older brothers actually. They and my father would all tell you that I'm too young to have a lover."

Liliana laughed lightly, "That does not mean you cannot have one in secret." She pointed out.

Elena stopped to stare at her, "Aren't you supposed to be all about chastity and following the maker." She bluntly asked, a little perturbed by the direction the conversation went.

Liliana just rose her eyebrow, "Just because I am a lay-sister in the chantry, does not mean I have taken vows of chastity and poverty, nor that I would press the ideals on others if I did. I must admit I am a romantic at heart and I tend to try to find it in life." She told Elena who just smiled sheepishly at her.

"Sorry, I'm just not used to people asking about my love life, not strangers, and definitely not sisters of the Chantry."

Liliana just giggled and lead her into the tavern. Elena looked around, it was overflowing with people most of them obviously refugee's, but the loudest and rowdiest group was the soldiers in the middle of the tavern. There were seven of them and they were clearly drunk, talking loudly and harassing a young raven haired girl who was not much older than she was. Elena frowned as the girl protested them grabbing her several times as she tried to escape, but her plea fell on deaf ears.

"Hey! Can't you see the girl doesn't like you touching her?" Elena demanded, gaining everyone's attention as she stalked over to the group, radiating anger. One of the soldiers leered at her,

"Well look here boys, another pretty one to entertain us!" he said as the others roared in laughter.

"I suggest you let her go and leave everyone alone before I break your hand." This made the men laugh again as the man who spoke tried to grab her. True to her word, she grabbed his hand and twisted it backwards before applying a large amount of pressure to it, the large snap of his wrist echoed around the suddenly silent room.

"Bitch! You broke my wrist!" the man screamed, wrenching his arm back. Elena just scowled fiercely at the other men.

"If any of the rest of you want to push it, I'd be happy to not only take the use of your hands away, but the ability to create children as well. Leave everyone alone." She stated brandishing one of her daggers at one of the men who made to try and attack her with his fist. The group murmured, but were smart enough to know that they probably couldn't best her while they were so drunk and grabbed the man who was still cursing about his arm and took off out of the tavern.

Everyone watched them leaving before breaking out in whispers.

"Are you alright Bethany?" Liliana asked the shaken girl, wrapping a comforting arm around her. The girl nodded and turned to Elena.

"Thank you for helping me." She said softly.

Elena nodded, sparing the girl a smile, "Of course, we girls have to stick together." Elena looked around, noticing that they were being watched closely. "Let's go, I think we've worn out our stay." She suggested, gesturing to the door. Bethany and Liliana both glanced around as well before agreeing.

"We can go to my house, it's not far." Bethany suggested. Elena sighed in relief.

"Oh good, I was going to ask those soldiers some questions, but I think it would be best for me to avoid them. They wouldn't be of any use to me anyways, I'm sure."

Liliana nodded her agreement.

"I agree, while I'm sure they won't remember you in particular because they were so drunk, there is still a chance they might."

"Then follow me." Bethany said as she started to lead the way.

"What were you doing at the tavern?" Liliana asked after they managed to put some distance between them and the tavern. Bethany sighed and looked around with large soulful eyes,

"I go every day now to see if anyone has seen or heard of my siblings." She admitted. Liliana's eyes grew worried.

"Still no sign of them? Don't give up hope though, Marian is a clever girl and Carver would probably just scowl the darkspawn away from him." She tried to tease. Elena glanced between the two.

"Your siblings are missing too?" She asked. Bethany turned to look at her in surprise.

"Yes, my older sister Marian and my twin brother Carver. You also had siblings at Ostegar?" She asked.

Elena nodded solemnly. "Yes, my oldest brother Fergus is a soldier in Highever's army, and my other older brother Aeden is a Grey Warden. I traveled here looking for them with Fergus's nephew to deliver some rather important news, but Liliana only just told me about the King and the loss at Ostegar." She explained.

Bethany's face took one of concern and sympathy. "I'm sorry, I haven't heard of any surviving Grey Wardens and I haven't heard any specifics on Highevers men. I'm sure that any in the army that lived, most likely would be making their way to Denerim to help the Queen, or even go back to their homes."

Elena acknowledged the logic in the other girls thought process. "I'm sure you're right. I just hope they are alive. I don't know what Oren or I would do if they were killed."

Bethany stopped outside of a small farm house right on the outskirts of Lothering.

"This is where I live. Would you like to come in?" she questioned. Elena thought about it for a moment before shaking her head.

"No thank you. I should be getting back to my Nephew, I left him with some friends, but I'm anxious to have him out of my sight. Maybe we can chat some more while I'm here." She suggested. Bethany beamed at her, agreeing eagerly before she turned to look at Liliana in question, but the Sister just shook her head, smiling softly at the girl.

"Thank you Bethany, but I need to be getting back to the chantry. Give your mother my regards."

"Thank you again for helping me." Bethany repeated before turning and going inside. Liliana and Elena turned and started to walk back to the chantry.

"I am sorry you didn't find any useful information about your brothers." Liliana said. Elena just shook her head as she tried to hold back her tears. She was starting to loose hope that she would find the last of her family.

"It's fine." She said as firmly as she could to keep the quiver in her voice out. "I'll just have to believe that they maker will lead them to me."

Liliana watched her for a moment before looking away. "What will you do now?" She wondered aloud.

Elena shrugged, "I will stay for as long as my friends plan to stay. They are traveling merchants that offered to help my nephew and I out and ended up becoming friends. I suppose I'll ask around to see what help I can offer to the people here for now, try and earn some coin if I can."

"You can always check the chanter's board. You could also ask Miriam, she's an elder lady that's trying to help find a place for all the refugee's. you'll find her close to the tents on this side of the bridge, across from the tavern. And several of the villagers are looking for helpers." Liliana pointed out the various places Elena could go to ask for miscellaneous jobs until they got back to the front of the chantry where they parted ways.

"Thank you for helping me today Liliana. I'm sure you had more important things to do." Elena said as she gave the Sister a grateful smile.

"Of course! If I find either of your brothers, I'll tell them you're looking for them." She assured before the two parted ways.

"Auntie! Auntie!" Elena turned to look around when she heard Oren calling her. She spotted him by the bridge, standing next to another little boy about his age and Whisper standing at attention, keeping his eye's open for anyone who might harm them. She wondered where Bodhan and Sandal were briefly before she came to a stop in front of the two.

"What's wrong Oren? Who's this? And where is Sandal and Bodhan?" She asked. Oren looked down guiltily, shuffling his feet.

"Uh, I might have wandered off while they were selling stuff." He muttered before perking up. "But I made a new friend!" He said, gesturing to the boy who was looking up at her with wide eyes. "This is Caden. He's 7 too and he's looking for his mama. Caden, this is my Auntie Elena. She's really amazing and she can do anything! She'll help you look for your mama!"

Elena smiled fondly at Oren, ruffling his hair. "I can't do anything, Oren, but I can certainly try and help."

"You're really pretty." The boy finally said, causing Elena to blush lightly, softly laughing.

"Thank you Caden, you're very handsome. Can I help you find your mama?" She questioned him. He shook his head.

"Mama told me not to go with any strangers." He told her, sounding as though he'd been forced to repeat it a dozen times already. Oren puffed up in anger.

"Auntie wont hurt you! She's trying to help!" He exclaimed. Elena hushed him as she soothed his hair back, crouching down to the boys level.

"Hush Oren, it's fine. I understand that his mother had told him to wait." She turned back to the boy, "I can give you a gold piece so you can eat for the next day or so, but I would suggest you go to the chantry, they can help you find your mama and keep you safe."

The boy nodded his understanding before tilting his head to one side. "Thank You! You remind me of my Mama, she's really nice and pretty too, but she has red hair."

Elena grinned at him and gave him a gold piece from her pouch and stepped back to let the boy's say their goodbyes. Once Caden was gone, Oren ran over and grinned excitedly at her.

"Did you find Papa and Uncle Aeden?" He asked. Elena tried to keep the frown off her face as she looked at him.

"No, you're Papa and Uncle are at Ostegar, remember? This is only Lothering." Oren's mouth made a perfect 'o' as he remembered the small detail.

"Then are we going to Ostegar now?" Elena paled at her nephews question, thinking of the sheer amount of darkspawn there would be. Even if the army had won the battle, she would have left him somewhere safe, or probably with Bodhan and Sandal until she had come back.

"no sweetie, not with the war going on. We're going to keep traveling with Bodhan and Sandal until they leave Ostegar. Some people I've talked to said they might head for Denerim next, so we might go there as well." She grabbed Orens hand and walked with him to where she could vaguely see Bodhan's cart, motioning for Whisper to follow them.

When Bodhan spotted them through the crowd, he let out a relieved sigh. "There you are! Sandal and I were worried!" He scolded Oren lightly, who at least looked ashamed. Elena nodded and looked down to him.

"You should apologize Oren, I know you were just trying to make a friend, and that Whisper was with you, but what if we couldn't find you again?" She asked.

"I'm sorry mister Bodhan. I promise I wont leave again!" Oren vowed before running over to watch Sandal as he put some enchantments on some weapons. Bodhan turned to her, looking apologetic and worried.

"I'm very sorry for losing him. I only took my eyes of him for a moment to make a sale."

Elena just patted his shoulder and looked at him reassuringly, "Don't worry Bodhan, Oren has always been a tricky kid to keep an eye on, it's why I also asked Whisper to watch him. Thank you for watching him for me, I got plenty of information, even if it wasn't the information that I wanted." She said. She looked around before adding, "Can you watch him for just a bit longer? I was going to do a few things around the village to help and maybe earn a few coins. Do you know how long you want to stay?"

Bodhan thought about it for a moment before nodding slowly, "I think we shall stay for tonight before heading off tomorrow. And of course I'll watch Oren, I don't think he'll wander off this time."

Elena laughed, "No, I don't think he will either. Do you have an idea of where to go next?" She asked.

"No, not yet, we'll probably take the West road though. Will you be joining us?" Bodhan wondered, looking up at her. Elena bit her lip, she really wanted to stay here in Lothering, but she knew it would be too dangerous without an army to stop the oncoming darkspawn.

"If that's alright with you. I don't really think it's safe to stay here, especially not with Oren and I don't want to endanger him any."

Bodhan patted her hand in understanding before turning back to the cart to start selling some more. Elena watched the three fondly for a moment before calling for Whisper to join her and heading off to see what help she could be, stopping by Miriam and helping make poultices, making some traps for a jittery young woman, poisons for the tavern master, and hunting down some deer with Whisper's help to help feed her and her group as well as many refugees as she could, once again trying to use everything she could on the animals.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

The next day the group packed up their camp and loaded up the cart before starting on their way out of the Village. It was slow going for the first half of the day because parts of the main road was so damaged that they had to turn around and go the long way, back through the village and across quite a bit of open farm land before reaching an un-ruined portion of road that lead to the West road. To their shock, dismay and fear, there were a sizable group of Darkspawn that ambushed them.

"Stay back!" Elena yelled to Bodhan, Sandal and Oren as she unsheathed her twin daggers and barked at her dog "Fetch Whisper!"

Whisper tore off into the group of Darkspawn that were viciously trying to attack them. Elena expertly started to fight back, but she didn't realize that one of them was a mage until it blasted her off her feet, dazing her for several seconds. She could vaguely hear Bodhan shouting for help and Oren crying and screaming, but she felt like her head was underwater.

When she finally managed to shake off the daze, she realized that she was surrounded by more people who were fighting back the darkspawn. She quickly got back to her feet and jumped back into the frey, killing the last two darkspawn before turning back to the group, crying when she saw who it was.

"Aedan!" She cried out in relief, throwing herself at her surprised older brother.

"Elena?!" he asked incredulously as he caught her, but he didn't have any more time to say anything because Oren also ran over, bowling into his legs.

"Uncle Aedan!" He also cried, though his was far more traumatized than his Aunt's.

"Oren?!" Aedan exclaimed again, looking completely bewildered as Elena pulled away to look at the other five companions with her brother.

"Liliana?" She asked incredulously at the familiar red-headed Sister. Liliana beamed at her.

"Oui, I am going to help them fight the blight! I'm so happy you found each other!" she said. Aeden looked between them, but didn't ask, so Elena assumed Liliana had either told him about her, or he was going to question her later.

One of the other woman with him was obviously a mage who was an apostate, and was scantily clad, but very pretty with ivory skin, sharp golden eyes and silky raven hair pulled up into an intricate bun.

The last woman of the group looked to be a Dalish elf if you went by the intricate markings on her forehead, with pretty blonde hair and tanned skin. She also looked like a warrior and was probably a Warden because that was the only reason Elena could think for her to be here as well.

The man looked to be a warrior, as well as a Warden, going by the weapons and armor he had on. He also looked sort of familiar to her, something about the tan skin, happy blue eyes and golden blonde hair.

The last person was actually a qunari, she noted, the grayish skin color and the fact that he towered over everyone else was a dead giveaway.

"What are you two doing here?" Aeden asked, bringing Elena from her daze.

"Looking for you and Fergus, Aeden, something terrible has happened to the castle." She said, starting on the big stuff. Aeden's eyebrows furrowed as he looked behind her to the two dwarves who were standing anxiously behind her. "Oh, Aeden, meet Bodhan and Sandal, they're merchants who found Oren and I and offered to bring us down here. They've been a huge help and I'm very happy to call them my friends. You two, meet my middle brother, Aeden."

Bodhan beamed at him and offered his hand to Aeden who shook it firmly. "Pleasure to meet you sir! You're sister and nephew have been wonderful companions. I'm very grateful to have met them, and I'm grateful you came when you did, it was looking like a bad situation we got into. If you need anything, anything at all, just say the word" He said. Aeden smiled tensely.

"Of course, thank you for helping my family out." He then turned back to Elena who was looking at his companions curiously again. "Elena, Oren, this is my fellow Grey Wardens, Alistair and Kryn, and a friend who has joined us against the blight, Morrigan. Sten has also pledged to help us. You three, this is my younger sister Elena, and my older brother's son, Oren." He introduced. Elena greeted them before turning to Aeden.

"What's going on? I thought all of the wardens were dead! Where's Fergus? Where are you going? What are you doing now?" She shot the questions off quickly. Aeden threw his hands up to try and stop her questions.

"Slow down Elena! It seems we both have important stories we need to tell. Let us travel until we can make camp, then we'll trade stories." He turned to Bodhan and Sandal, "You two are welcome to join us for now."

Bodahn just smile kindly at him. "No thank you, I think you'll encounter a bit more trouble than we're bargaining for. We'll get this all cleaned up and be on our way." He then turned to Elena and Oren who both looked put out, Oren's lip was quivering as he ran to Sandal to hug him.

"I'm very glad you stopped us that day, Miss Elena, you've been a dear friend and I enjoyed our days together. Never fear though, I'm sure we'll meet again." He reassured them, giving Oren a hug when the boy finished saying goodbye to Sandal.

"I'm glad you brought us here, you were a huge help and if there's any way I can repay you, you only have to ask." She also gave the two of them a hug, before turning and nodding to her brother who called to the others to head out.

"Now will you tell me what's going on?" Aeden asked as the group got moving again. Elena bit her lip and glanced at the rest of the group.

"I think it's better if we wait until camp. I don't think you want to hear this with everyone around." She said.

"Uncle Aeden, Uncle Aeden, guess what?" Oren called excitedly, running up to grab his attention. Elena smiled and dropped back a little to watch the two interact.

"It seems that everything has worked out, no?" Liliana asked, catching up to walk next to her. Elena nodded, a small smile on her face.

"So it seems, now I just have to find Fergus to make this situation ideal." She replied. She looked around at the others.

"So, how did the rest of you come to join my brother? Are you Grey Wardens also?" She questioned

"I am not a Warden, but I am helping your brother defeat the blight." Morrigan responded from her spot off to the side of the group.

"How did you meet?" Elena pressed. Morrigan glanced sideways at her.

"I met them in the Wilds; my mother had some documents that they needed. She was keeping them safe until one of the Wardens came for them." She answered easily before striding forward, talking to Aeden for a moment, and then leaving the group.

"Uh, I hope I didn't just fend her off." Elena said aloud. Alistair snorted,

"I wish! No, she just went off to scout for us. She'll be back." He reassured her. Elena nodded, staring at him again, trying to figure out how she knew him. He noticed her staring and shifted nervously.

"Yeeesss?" He drawled out. Elena blinked, snapping out of her thoughts.

"Sorry, I'm just trying to figure out why you seem so familiar to me."

Alistair looked nervously at her. "I don't know?" He said. Elena stared at him some more before snapping her fingers.

"I've got it! King Maric!" She stated, Alistair looked confused and slightly dreadful. "you're the boy I forced to play King Maric when you found me in the stables pretending to be Queen Rowen, fighting off the Orlesians." She remembered suddenly, she had only been about five at the time and her family had been visiting castle Redcliff and she had gotten bored and wandered off to play. Alistair, who had been around ten at the time, had come across her in the stables; pretending one of the shovels was a sword. Recognition dawned on his face.

"Oh! I remember that!" He said, looking at her closely, "You wouldn't stop following me the entire week your family was staying." Elena blushed at that.

"Yeah, well, you were the one who humored a five year old girl, the only one at the time, it's no wonder I followed you everywhere."

Lelianna laughed, clapping her hands once together in delight. "What a wonderful start to a love story that would make!" She giggled. The two blushed and looked at each other awkwardly.

"Er, I dunno about that Lelianna, we haven't really seen each other since then. How would we know if we've changed or not?" Elena said doubtfully to her. Lelianna just smiled innocently and picked up her pace to walk next to Aeden and Oren.

"What a strange woman." Elena muttered. Alistair snorted.

"Your telling me, apparently she joined us because the Maker told her to join us." He said skeptically. Elena turned slightly to stare at him.

"Excuse me?" She asked incredulously. Alistair just shrugged and held up his hands.

"I have no clue, I'm just repeating her words." He told her. The two fell into a companionable silence after that, listening to Oren chatting away with Aeden and Lelianna try to talk with Sten who only gave short answers or non-answers.

Eventually Aeden called the group to a halt and had everyone set up camp. He made sure Oren was safe with Whisper and Lelianna before grabbing Elena's arm and dragging her out of ear shot of the others.

"Now will you tell me what's going on?" He asked her irritably. Elena took a slow deep breath, thinking of how to break it to him, before letting it out slowly.

"You might want to sit for this." She told him. Aeden crossed his arms and got a stubborn look on his face.

"I'd rather stand." He decided. Elena nodded and started pacing anxiously before turning to look at him seriously.

"The castle was taken over by Howe." She finally blurted. Aedens stubborn expression faltered, turning to surprise, then disbelief.

"What? What do you mean?" He demanded.

"The night he and his troops came, he arrived at the castle on time with barely half his troops, saying they were delayed. Father figured it was just because this war had everyone scrambling and so they made the combined decision to send Highevers army off with what little troops did come on time with Howe. Later that night, Oren joined me in bed because of a nightmare, and not long after, Whisper started growling at the door. I grabbed one of my weapons, told Oren to hide until I told him to come out, before opening the door. I was immediately attacked. I killed all the soldiers who were there before checking on Mother. She was safe so I grabbed Oren, put on some clothes and went to check on Oriana." Elena teared up as she thought about the sight of her sister-in-law lying dead in her room. "They killed her! She didn't have a chance and they would have killed Oren if he hadn't come to me!" She burst out crying for the first time since that night and Aeden swept her up in a hug, trying to comfort her despite the fact that he too was crying silently.

"The whole castle was overrun with Howe's men, everyone we came across, soldiers, children, men, women, servants. Everyone was dead! Sir Gilmore helped me get to the Armory while Mother took Oren to the servants exit to see if Father was there. I got the family sword and shield, as you can see, then Sir Gilmore went to defend the castle. I found Father bleeding to death in the servant's larder with Oren crying and Mother trying to stop the bleeding and Whisper was guarding the door. Father told us to leave without him because he had lost too much blood, but Mother refused to leave without him and chose to stay and shoot anyone who came through the door. Oren is the only reason I left without too much argument. We didn't have much time so I grabbed him and Whisper and we ran all night. When Oren got tired I carried him on my back until I couldn't go any longer. The next day is when Bodahn and Sandal found us and offered to take us to Ostegar to find you or Fergus. We had only made it to Lothering when we got wind about the loss at Ostegar and decided it would be safer to move on." Elena finished, breathing heavily as she continued to cry, though that was slowly easing up. The two were silent and finally Elena couldn't stand it anymore and pulled back so she could look at her brother.

Aeden was shaking and his face looked furious.

"That-that BASTARD!" he yelled, spinning around and punching the nearest tree.

"A-Aeden stop!" Elena cried out as he continued to punch the tree with his fist. She lunged forward and grabbed his arm to stop him. "Hurting yourself isn't going to help!" She said.

Aeden stopped punching the tree and instead rested his head against the tree. "If I ever get my hands on that man I'm going to make him wish he was never born." Aeden told her gruffly.

Elena nodded her agreement, "Me too, but don't do anything rash, we still need to find Fergus and tell him what's happened, or find out if he's dead too. And there's still the blight to deal with." She reminded him.

Aeden took a deep breath and stood up straight, sorting himself out and calming down before turning back to her, his eyes sad.

"I'm so sorry you and Oren had to go through that, but I'm so glad you both made it out safely. You've done a wonderful job keeping him safe Elena and I'm so proud of you." He told her, dropping a kiss on the crown of her head. She smiled watery at him.

"yes well, I learned from the best didn't I? Oh, and, congratulations on becoming a warden, I'm so jealous." She teased him lightly, smiling bigger when he huffed out a laugh.

"Lets go back before the others come after us." Aeden told her, ushering her back towards camp.

"Wait, won't you tell me what happened at Ostegar?" She questioned. Aeden shook his head, clenching his jaw as his eyes shone angrily.

"I will, but not to night. I-I really just want to digest this news first." He finally said. Elena bit back her protest, understanding that it was a huge blow to deal after what she could tell was also a huge event and knew that her brother would need some time to work through his thoughts on Howes betrayal and the consequences.

She silently joined him, sending him an understanding, watery smile before walking back to camp with him. When they stepped back into the clearing, they were surprised to see Bodhan and Sandal there with their goods talking to Alistair and Kryn, who waved them over.

"Bodhan! I didn't think I'd be seeing you this quickly!" Elena exclaimed with a small smile. Bodhan smiled back at her

"Yes, well, we were looking for a place to set up camp for the night and thought, 'what safer place to camp then with the Wardens?'. So here we are." He explained. Kryn turned to Aeden and added,

"I told them they could stay, they're also offering us a slight discount on all their wares. Is that okay with you?"

Aeden nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, it's a good idea, we weren't really able to stock up very well in Lothering, so we could do that now, and I'm sure Oren will be happy to see them again as well." He said.

"What do you all need?" Elena asked curiously.

"Hmmm, I'm not sure yet." Aeden admitted, looking to Alistair who also shrugged.

"Well," Elena started hesitantly as she looked around the camp, "You should probably find some armor for Sten and Lelianna. I'm not sure how well Lelianna can fight in those Chantry robes, and Sten looks like he needs a weapon at least. I guess it all depends on what your plans are, where you're going and what not." She said. Aeden, Kryn, and Alistair were nodding thoughtfully as they looked around the camp.

"We should probably ask what everyone needs. I'm thinking we should head to Redcliff first, now that Elena and Oren are with us, I'd feel more comfortable if they were somewhere safe and not at as huge a risk to being around Darkspawn, especially Oren." Aeden said, Alistair nodded as he scrunched his nose up in thought.

"We'll have to figure out a watch schedule and meal schedule. We shouldn't stock up on food because we'll be too weighed down to travel fast and to fight effectively, but we should have something in case we can't find anything as we travel. We'll also need healing items, somehow I don't see Morrigan being able to heal very well and I only have two potions in my own pack that I was able to find." Aeden nodded and looked around camp again.

"We need to sit down with everyone and figure out everyone's fighting style and think of a training schedule between stops so we can all fight together without getting in each other's ways. The three of us and Sten would have been trained to know how to fight next to other fighting styles and Kryn got a good taste of how the two of us fought during Ostegar, but I have no clue what kind of training the other girls have." Alistair said thoughtfully, his eyes gazing over the camp.

"We should also go over what to expect from different Darkspawn for the others and how to handle them. We don't need people dying or getting tainted because they didn't know that one could do magic or that you should be careful with the blood." Kryn added. Elena nodded her agreement.

"That would be nice, it completely blindsided me when I was fighting that group of Darkspawn when one of them used magic on me. I had no clue they could do that."

Kryn smiled sympathetically at her, "It is a surprise, I was also taken aback when I first encountered darkspawn and found out that they could use magic as well." She then turned to the two men, "We also need to figure out how we're going to go about dealing with Loghain and with dealing with the treaties. We should probably sit down with a map and figure out distances and times and take into account the time of year we'd be traveling. "

Alistair nodded, "Yea, I don't fancy walking up to Orzamar in the middle of winter." He pointed out.

"And I don't want to be in the Brazillian Forest in the middle of Summer. It's always extremely humid and hot during that time." Kryn added.

"I have a map in the back of the Wagon you can borrow." Bodhan said after a few moments, causing the four to start. They had forgotten that he was there.

"IF you could grab that for us it'd help a lot." Aeden said nodding to the Dwarf. Bodhan nodded and went to grab the Map.

"Aeden, I'm going to help Liliana with the meal and then do some more lessons with Oren before he goes to bed for the night. You might want to decide on who takes what night watch." Aeden nodded and waved her off before rolling out the map that Bodhan handed him and the three Wardens started to discuss over it.

"Do you need any help Lellianna?" Elena asked once she was close enough to not have to shout. The red head smiled at her.

"Nope. I've already started a Stew. Morrigan was kind enough to bring back a few rabbits and I already skinned them and prepared the few ingredients I've found. It should be ready in a few more moments. Would you gather everyone to eat?"

Elena nodded and gathered everyone up to eat. Over the meal, Aeden told them the plan from there.

"We've decided to go to Redcliff first and drop Elena and Oren off there. While we're there we'll try and secure Arl Eamons support and stock up on supplies, we need to get Sten and Lelliana some appropriate Armor, but for now you two will come with me over to Bodhans cart and find something to tide you over until then and we'll also grab Sten a weapon. After Redcliff, we'll head to the Mages tower since it's only a three day trip from there to fufill the treaties of the mages. That'll put us right about fall, so we'll head to the Brazillian Forest to try and find some of the Dalish then up to Orzamar which should hopefully be over the worst of winter by then. That's all tentative because we're not sure what we'll find along the way. As far as night shifts go, we'll start with Morigan and I for the first shift, Sten and Kryn on the Second, then Lilianna and Alistair on the third. The three of you will shift turns with Elena every once and a while so one of us always has a full nights rest." Aeden took a deep breath and Kryn picked up where he left off.

"Every night all of us will train together in order to get a feel for our fighting styles and to help keep us on our toes. We can do this by sparing with each other or going over our stances. We'll do this before we eat so we're not stuffed when we train. We can start tomorrow, for now we need to discuss our fighting styles and talents so everyone can utilize their talents to the fullest."

Slowly, they all took turns explaining what they were best at and how they fought. After the meal, Elena started Oren on a bit of his training with Arden's input here and there before putting him to bed. While they did that, Liliana and Sten found some armor that worked for them, even if some of it was a bit mismatched and Sten reluctantly found a Broadsword he could work with. slowly after, people started to drop off to sleep, leaving only the watchers awake.


End file.
